Othniel preston



0. PRESTON;

BARBED WIRE FENCE. No. 248,348. Patented Oct.- 18,1881.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTHNIEL PRESTON, OF HORNELLSVILLE, NEW YORK.

BARBED-WIRE FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 248,348, dated October18, 1881, Application filed January 14, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTHNIEL PRESTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hornellsville, in the county of Steuben and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Fences;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersor figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to the class of wire fences; and it consists,essentially, in a braided rail, composed of three or more wires braidedtogether to form arail, and provided with barbs at suitable distancesalong the rail.

The object of my invention is to produce a strong and durablebarbed-wire fence, having the wires of which the rail is composed soarranged as to present the broadest possible surface to the vision, andat the same time se cure the best results as to strength and durability.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my rail.Fig.2 is a section of the rail, showing a barb inserted therein.

A B G are the wires composing the rail, and they may be braided in anyconvenient manner, and each strand of the web may be composed of two ormore wires twisted tgether, if thought desirable, and the barbs insertedat the proper intervals as the web is being made; or they may beinserted after the rail is completed. I prefer, however, to make thebarb integral with the web by making one or more wires of the web insections, and form the barb by lapping the ends of opposite sections anduniting the same by giving both a double twist, then turning the pointsoutwardly in opposite directions, as shown at F, Fig. 1.

A form of rail such as above described possesses great strength andstability. It is obvious that its tensile strength or resistance tostrain in the direction of its length must be far greater than a singlewire or a single central wire with a wrapped or encircling wire. Such isalso the casein its resistance to a breaking or cross strain. Moreover,there'is a high degree of elasticity in this form of rail, and itaffords a compensation for varying degrees of temperature. Again, if oneof the wires ofthe web should be broken, there is not that tendency forthe broken wire to unwind or spread from the others as in the case of arail where the wires are simply twisted.

The wires may be light, and yet when woven in this way they are strongin their entirety, and as the rail presents a distinct view by its broadsurface, there is less liability of an animal approaching or coming incontact with it.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In wire fences, a braided rail or web, substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. In a wire fence, a rail composed of three or more wires braided toform a web, and provided with suitable barbs, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. In wire fences, the combination of a rail composed of three or morewires braided to form a Web with a barb formed bylapping the ends ofopposite sections of the wires composing the rail and uniting them bygiving to both a double twist, and then turning the points outwardly atright angles with the rail, substantially as described, and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereot'I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

OTHNIEL PRESTON. Witnesses:

JOHN T. ARMS, PERCY AUGHE.

